Tandem

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Horses hitched in tandem pulling a carriage Attelage Tandem.JPG
Horses hitched in tandem pulling a carriage

Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. [1] Tandem can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects working together, not necessarily in line. [1]

Contents

The English word tandem derives from the Latin adverb tandem, meaning at length or finally. [2] It is a word play, using the Latin phrase (referring to time, not position) for English "at length, lengthwise". [3]

Horse driving

Draft horses chain-hitched in tandem; carter standing in usual position beside rear horse Beverley Gas Works, Old Hull Road 1910 (archive ref DDX1544-1-11) (28284430335).jpg
Draft horses chain-hitched in tandem; carter standing in usual position beside rear horse

When driving horses, tandem refers to one horse harnessed in front of another to pull a load or vehicle. A tandem arrangement provides more pulling power than a single horse, such as for pulling a heavy load up a steep hill, out of heavy mud or snow, or pulling heavy loads on narrow tracks or through narrow gates and doorways (too wide for a pair of horses side-by-side). [4] :52,75 For example, a Brewer's van fully loaded with 25 barrels might weigh 8 tons, requiring 2 or 3 horses. [5] :45

In carting, when pulling heavy loads with tandem harness, the carter walks to the left of the shaft horse holding its left rein with his right hand, and holding the reins of the lead horse in his left hand. [5] :62–65

The harness for the leader (front horse) is slightly different than for the wheeler (rear horse). For instance, the leader doesn't have shafts, so shaft holders are not needed, but often there are straps to support the traces (pulling straps) from sagging too low. Any straps running across the back of the leader should be sewn or use special buckles which don't leave a loose tab that might catch a rein in it. [5] :14,20,267 In carriage driving, the driver should carry a whip long enough to reach the shoulder of the leader. [5] :63

The driver sits high enough to see over the leader and is carrying a whip long enough to reach the lead horse's shoulder Skeleton-Tandem-Cart.jpg
The driver sits high enough to see over the leader and is carrying a whip long enough to reach the lead horse's shoulder

A tandem cart is constructed in the style of a dogcart and used mainly for show, and should be tall enough for the driver to look over the head of the lead horse. [4] :159 [5] :263 [6] :23 A drayel is hardware at the tip of the shafts to attach the traces (pulling straps) from the front horse. [4] :185 Alternative to using a drayel, the leader's traces are hooked or buckled into the forward end of the wheeler's traces. [5] :267

Driving a tandem is challenging and led to the creation of tandem driving clubs and matches in the 19th century. [5] :264

The art of tandem driving requires an alert brain and sensitive fingers. It has been compared with playing a harp. It is, in many ways, more difficult than driving a team [of four horses]. Whereas the leaders of a team balance one another and keep each other straight, there is nothing other than the skill of the Whip (driver) to prevent a tandem leader from turning to face his driver.

Sallie Walrond [5] :264

Three horses in a row is sometimes called a randem/random or trandem/trandom. [7] [5] :222 [4] :19

Bicycles

Tandem bicycle Flory och Elin.jpg
Tandem bicycle

Tandem bicycles are named for their tandem seating, a more common arrangement than side-by-side "sociable" seating. Tandem bikes are also used in road racing, track racing, and para-cycling.

Motor vehicles

The Messerschmitt KR200 was an example of a very small automobile that used tandem seating; one passenger behind the driver.

Tandem parking means parking one car in front of the other.

The word tandem is also used to indicate a semi-trailer truck pulling more than one trailer.

Tandem axles means one axle mounted closely in front of another. For trailers, the purpose is to bear heavier loads than a single axle provides.

In heavy trucks, tandem refers to two closely spaced axles. Legally defined by the distance between the axles (up to 2.5 m (8 ft 2+38 in) in the European Union, 40–96 inches (1.02–2.44 m) in the United States), mechanically there are many configurations. Either or both axles may be powered, and often interact with each other. In the United States, both axles are typically powered and equalized; in the European Union, one axle is typically unpowered, and can often be adjusted to load, and even raised off the ground, turning a tandem into a single-axle. [8] [9]

Aviation

Instructor and student pilots in a McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk aircraft US Navy 061017-N-7130B-030 An instructor pilot is joined by his student in the cockpit of a T-45A Goshawk on the flight deck aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).jpg
Instructor and student pilots in a McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk aircraft

The two seating configurations for trainer, night and all-weather interceptor or attack aircraft are pilot and instructor side by side or in tandem. [10] Usually, the pilot is in front and the instructor behind. In attack helicopters, sometimes the pilot sits in back with the weapons operator in front for better view to aim weapons, as the Bell AH-1 Cobra was a tandem cockpit redesign which produced a much slimmer profile than the Bell UH-1 Iroquois on which it was based. Attack aircraft and all-weather interceptors often use a second crew member to operate avionics such as radar, or as a second pilot. Bombers such as the Convair B-58 Hustler seated three crew members in tandem. A common engineering adaptation is to lengthen the cockpit or fuselage to create a trainer with tandem seating from a single-seater aircraft.

Side-by-side seating

Tandem seat Gloster Meteor (top right) and side-by-side seat Hawker Hunter (trainer) Hunter and meteor at kemble arp.jpg
Tandem seat Gloster Meteor (top right) and side-by-side seat Hawker Hunter (trainer)

An alternative configuration is side-by-side seating, which is common in civil aircraft of all sizes, trainers and large military aircraft, but less so in high performance jets and gliders where drag reduction is paramount. The Boeing B-47 Stratojet and Boeing XB-52 bombers used fighter-style tandem seating, but the final B-52 bomber series used a conventional side-by-side cockpit. The Grumman A-6 Intruder, General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, Sukhoi Su-24, and the Sukhoi Su-34 are examples of combat aircraft that use this configuration. For training aircraft, it has the advantage that pilot and instructor can see each other's actions, allowing the pilot to learn from the instructor and the instructor to correct the student pilot. The tandem configuration has the advantage of being closer to the normal working environment that a fast jet pilot is likely to encounter. [11]

In some cases, such as the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler, a two-place aircraft can be lengthened into a four-place aircraft. Also, a single seat cockpit can be redesigned into a side-by-side arrangement in the case of the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, TF-102 trainer or the Hawker Hunter training versions.

Insects

During mating among odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), a male uses claspers at the end of his abdomen to grab a female between the head and thorax, forming a tandem. The pair may take flight while in tandem. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axle</span> Central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear

An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle is supported. In the latter case, a bearing or bushing sits inside a central hole in the wheel to allow the wheel or gear to rotate around the axle. Sometimes, especially on bicycles, the latter type of axle is referred to as a spindle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cart</span> Wheeled vehicle for animal drawn transport

A cart or dray is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buggy (carriage)</span> American four-wheeled carriage

A buggy refers to a lightweight four-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse, though occasionally by two. Amish buggies are still regularly in use on the roadways of America. The word "buggy" has become a generic term for "carriage" in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trainer aircraft</span> Aircraft designed for training of pilots and aircrew

A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows pilots-in-training to safely advance their skills in a more forgiving aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dump truck</span> Truck which can tip its bed, dumping its contents

A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump trailer, dumper trailer, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials for construction as well as coal. A typical dump truck is equipped with an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and equipped with hydraulic rams to lift the front, allowing the material in the bed to be deposited ("dumped") on the ground behind the truck at the site of delivery. In the UK, Australia, South Africa and India the term applies to off-road construction plants only and the road vehicle is known as a tip lorry, tipper lorry, tipper truck, tip truck, tip trailer or tipper trailer or simply a tipper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheel tractor-scraper</span> Type of heavy equipment used for earthmoving

In civil engineering, a wheel tractor-scraper is a type of heavy equipment used for earthmoving. It has a pan/hopper for loading and carrying material. The pan has a tapered horizontal front cutting edge that cuts into the soil like a carpenter's plane or cheese slicer and fills the hopper which has a movable ejection system. The horsepower of the machine, depth of the cut, type of material, and slope of the cut area affect how quickly the pan is filled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse-drawn vehicle</span> Vehicle pulled one or more horses

A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by automobiles and other forms of self-propelled transport but are still in use today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorry (horse-drawn)</span> Low-loading trolley

A lorry or lorrie was a low flat horse-drawn vehicle with no sides, related to the trolley and dray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breastplate (tack)</span> Piece of horse equipment across the chest

A breastplate is a piece of tack (equipment) used on horses. Its purpose is to keep a saddle from sliding back. It is also a safety feature—if the saddle's girth or billets break, a rider may have enough time to stop the horse and dismount before the saddle slips off the animal's back. The breastplate is used on both English and Western saddles. Western riding involving working cattle use a thicker sturdier style than in English riding or Western riding horse shows. A breastplate is most helpful for horses with large shoulders and a flat ribcage. A breast collar as part of a harness is used to pull a load.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semi-trailer</span> Trailer vehicle without a front axle

A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a semi-trailer truck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatbed truck</span> Type of truck

A flatbed truck is a type of truck the bodywork of which is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy loading of goods, and consequently they are used to transport heavy loads that are not delicate or vulnerable to rain, and also for abnormal loads that require more space than is available on a closed body. Flatbed trucks can be either articulated or rigid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving (horse)</span> Use of horses to pull vehicles or other equipment

Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way. It encompasses a wide range of activities from pleasure driving, to harness racing, to farm work, horse shows, and even international combined driving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse harness</span> Device that connects a horse to a carriage or load

A horse harness is a device that connects a horse to a horse-drawn vehicle or another type of load to pull. There are two main designs of horse harness: (1) the breast collar or breaststrap, and (2) the full collar or collar-and-hames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swingletree</span> Connects horse to carriage

A swingletree or singletree is a small wooden or metal bar behind a harnessed horse. It is used to balance the pull of a draught horse or other draught animal when pulling a vehicle. It is a kind of whippletree, and the term is also used sometimes for other whippletrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whippletree (mechanism)</span> Mechanism to distribute force evenly through linkages

A whippletree, or whiffletree, is a mechanism to distribute force evenly through linkages. It is also referred to as an equalizer, leader bar, or double tree. It consists of a bar pivoted at or near the centre, with force applied from one direction to the pivot and from the other direction to the tips. Several whippletrees may be used in series to distribute the force further, such as to simulate pressure over an area as when applying loading to test airplane wings. Whippletrees may be used either in compression or tension. They were also used for subtraction and addition calculations in mechanical computers. Tension whippletrees are used in artful hung mobiles, such as those by artist Alexander Calder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terret</span> Rings on horse harness to guide reins

A terret or rein ring is a metal loop on a horse harness through which the lines (reins) pass to prevent them from tangling or getting snagged on the harness or shafts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parnall Possum</span> Type of aircraft

The Parnall Possum was an experimental triplane with a single, central engine driving wing-mounted propellers via shafts and gears. Two of these British aircraft were built in the mid-1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Float (horse-drawn)</span> Horse cart with low rear for loading deliveries

A float is a form of two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, often with a dropped axle to give an especially low load-bed. They were intended for use by deliverymen and the carrying of heavy or unstable items such as milk churns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge</span> Type of aircraft

The Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge were a series of very large bomber aircraft - Riesenflugzeuge, usually powered by four or more engines, designed and built in Germany from 1915 to 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sjees</span> Dutch horse cart

A Sjees is a traditional Dutch two-wheeled carriage pulled by one or two horses, which originates from Friesland in the north of Netherlands. Also called a Friesian chaise, it resembles a chaise or gig carriage but with unique regional distinctions. The undercarriage, wooden axle, large wheels, and shafts are usually painted white. The body, which is supported on cee-springs and leather braces, has a curved dash and seats two people. Typically, the body is decorated with elaborate painting, gilding and carvings, and the upholstery is brightly colored velvet or leather.

References

  1. 1 2 "Tandem" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. "Tandem". Wordinfo.com. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  3. Harper, Douglas (14 January 2014). "tandem". Online Etymology Dictionary . Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Smith, D.J.M. (1988). A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles. J. A. Allen & Co. Ltd. ISBN   0851314686. OL   11597864M.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Walrond, Sallie (1979). The Encyclopaedia of Driving. Country Life Books. ISBN   0600331822. OL   4175648M.
  6. Walrond, Sallie (1995). Driving Questions Answered. Kenilworth Press. ISBN   1872082807. OL   8652287M.
  7. "Tandem vs Randem". The Carriage Journal . 21 (1). 1983.
  8. "Guidelines on Maximum Weights...Criteria" (PDF). Road Safety Authority (Ireland). December 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. Federal Highway Administration (2006). "Freight Management and Operations: Bridge Formula Weights". U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. Wragg, David W. (1974). A Dictionary of Aviation (1st American ed.). New York: Frederick Fell, Inc. p. 259. ISBN   0-85045-163-9.
  11. "Why Tandem Seating in the SGT-300?". testrakeaviation. 15 March 2010.
  12. Dubois, Bob (2005). Damselflies of the North Woods. Kollath-Stensaas Publishing. pp. 5–6. ISBN   0-9673793-7-7.
  13. Mead, Kurt (2003). Dragonflies of the North Woods. Kollath-Stensaas Publishing. p. 5. ISBN   0967379369. OL   8556568M.